Any caliber you really don’t like

[Kdf101]

I don’t own, like, or hate 10mm; but when we went camping and hiking in Yellowstone last year, I did borrow my Dad’s 1911 in 10mm for bear defense. Underwood hot loaded hard cast. And bear spray. I don’t know how it works on bears, because we were not attacked, but dad said it did fine on a white tail he shot with it.

 

[DadSmith]

I don’t own, like, or hate 10mm; but when we went camping and hiking in Yellowstone last year, I did borrow my Dad’s 1911 in 10mm for bear defense. Underwood hot loaded hard cast. And bear spray. I don’t know how it works on bears, because we were not attacked, but dad said it did fine on a white tail he shot with it.

Charged by a Grizzly: A 10mm Glock (and Serious Practice) Saved My Life

Sam Kezar fired seven rounds amid a split-second grizzly charge. Those shots, plus one from his buddy, saved him from being mauled.

www.outdoorlife.com

 

[Kdf101]

I don’t own, like, or hate 10mm; but when we went camping and hiking in Yellowstone last year, I did borrow my Dad’s 1911 in 10mm for bear defense. Underwood hot loaded hard cast. And bear spray. I don’t know how it works on bears, because we were not attacked, but dad said it did fine on a white tail he shot with it.

Charged by a Grizzly: A 10mm Glock (and Serious Practice) Saved My Life

Sam Kezar fired seven rounds amid a split-second grizzly charge. Those shots, plus one from his buddy, saved him from being mauled.

www.outdoorlife.com

Interesting read. I have seen a few bears and i don’t think there is a gun I could carry that would make me feel great about my chances, but the 10mm seemed the best I could do with something I could carry and actually shoot accurately. Seemed to work for this guy.

 

[Route 45]

Charged by a Grizzly: A 10mm Glock (and Serious Practice) Saved My Life

Sam Kezar fired seven rounds amid a split-second grizzly charge. Those shots, plus one from his buddy, saved him from being mauled.

www.outdoorlife.com

Lots of outdoorsman guides in grizzly country trust 10mm. From your posted article:

"They figured that I hit the bear three times out of the seven times I shot, twice in the mid-chest and one shot grazed her right shoulder and broke her back femur. They said that Jerrad had hit her once broadside, right behind the shoulder, a perfect double-lung shot. The way they framed it in their report, was that the bear was coming right at me and had I not been prepared to shoot it a couple times, and had my buddy not made a good shot to the lungs, that the bear would have gotten on top of me."

 

[MindfulMan]

Interesting read. I have seen a few bears and i don’t think there is a gun I could carry that would make me feel great about my chances, but the 10mm seemed the best I could do with something I could carry and actually shoot accurately. Seemed to work for this guy.

One shot from a 4" barrel 500 magnum will put down anything that walks in North America. It'll shoot 700 grain hard-cast.
With a Galco Sport holster (and suspenders for me), it can be carried easily, and I'm 72 years old.

 

[PurdueGunLover]

Love 22 lr 9mm and 38 in pistols.
Rest well...

 

[Route 45]

One shot from a 4" barrel 500 magnum will put down anything that walks in North America. It'll shoot 700 grain hard-cast.
With a Galco Sport holster (and suspenders for me), it can be carried easily, and I'm 72 years old.

View attachment 319005

One shot, huh? Impressive. How many bears have you stopped with that thing?

 

[MindfulMan]

One shot, huh? Impressive. How many bears have you stopped with that thing?

I lost count after the first dozen ! Hit em in the brain-bucket, and they fold like a wet napkin .... guaranteed.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

One shot from a 4" barrel 500 magnum will put down anything that walks in North America. It'll shoot 700 grain hard-cast.

I suspect the number of people who can make a rapid string of accurate shots under stress with a 700 gr full house magnum from a 4" handgun can be counted on zero fingers. Let alone if you're already fatigued, injured, etc.


As an aside from those not getting why .40 S&W, it was a product of it's time. Bullet technology wasn't where it was today, getting reliable penetration and expansion from a lighter bullet was difficult. Even heavier bullets like the .45 Auto were often unreliable expanders (hydra-shok marketing posters aside). So a reasonably heavy yet reasonably swift bullet that was big enough to hold together through a barrier was readily adopted. Add in the Clinton AWB and 10 round magazine limits, and fatty fats like .40 and .45 diameters taking up more room in the magazine didn't affect capacity any longer. IMO, Clinton did more for the resurgence of single stack .45s and the adoption of .40 S&W than most gun industry personalities...

 

[Trapper Jim]

Taking it from the top, the bullet has to come in contact with something to complete exterior ballistics.

In the very early 80’s we caved to the high capacity of sub caliber ammo. As a failure of anyone shooting better, we shot more.

The poor outcome of Miami FBI opened the door for the merchants to improve exterior ballistics in bullet technology. That was a win for us and for the manufacturers. Not so much for the FBI and the .40 caliber.

Many will forget it was Bill Ruger that bargained for the 10 round mag limit long before anyone else. The thought process by these peeps was and is now, you don’t see Active Shooters using muskets these days.

It is of my opinion, perhaps alone, that we benefited from better bullet building but the masses of Casual GunOwners are still in the mode of equipment over skill set.

That is all.

Trapper

 

[led4thehed2]

.22 LR. May very well be that the ammo I bought was the huge, cheap, 500+ round boxes/buckets, but the rifles I've had in .22 LR constantly had failures to fire. To me, the charm of .22 LR was the ammo was so cheap. I guess if pricier ammo is needed for reliable ignition, it's not as appealing a choice. Maybe my "beef" is more with rimfire ignition. IDK.

 

[MindfulMan]

I suspect the number of people who can make a rapid string of accurate shots under stress with a 700 gr full house magnum from a 4" handgun can be counted on zero fingers. Let alone if you're already fatigued, injured, etc.

Hand strength and a steely gaze win the day !

 

[DadSmith]

Hand strength and a steely gaze win the day !

 

[MindfulMan]

Thanks for proving my point, DS !

 

[sig-man]

40 S&W. Had a few friends jump on the 40 bandwagon years back. I never did. Stuck with 9mm and 45. Glad I did. Also never liked the 22 magnum. Not sure why, just always figured you either want a 22lr or a rifle cartridge. Never made sense to me.

 

[DadSmith]

I don't dislike any caliber. I like to shoot everything and would like to own a diverse amount. I guess I have a collectors mindset.

 

[Indyhd]

Not really hate for any particular caliber, but there are so many that now are going defunct due to handgun size and bullet design innovation.
The .25 and .32 ACP now have .380 guns the same size, as well as the .380 which was also popular to pocket carry now being replaced by the small 9MM.
Rifle calibers being the same, but as Trapper Jim stated, there were so many good ones from 50 years ago, there really wasn't so much of a NEED, but a want for many of the newer calibers.
The 30-30, .300 savage and .308 have taken many deer in the eastern part of the country was there really a need for the Waters ?
We could go on all day comparing cartridges, and never come to an agreement.
That's what makes this so much fun, its not necessary the NEEDS, but the WANTS.

 

[Kdf101]

Not really hate for any particular caliber, but there are so many that now are going defunct due to handgun size and bullet design innovation.
The .25 and .32 ACP now have .380 guns the same size, as well as the .380 which was also popular to pocket carry now being replaced by the small 9MM.
Rifle calibers being the same, but as Trapper Jim stated, there were so many good ones from 50 years ago, there really wasn't so much of a NEED, but a want for many of the newer calibers.
The 30-30, .300 savage and .308 have taken many deer in the eastern part of the country was there really a need for the Waters ?
We could go on all day comparing cartridges, and never come to an agreement.
That's what makes this so much fun, its not necessary the NEEDS, but the WANTS.

One of my bucket list guns to get someday is a savage 99 in .300 savage. I have always thought that, to me at least, those are really good looking rifles.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

Thanks for proving my point, DS !

You reckon he's shooting full house magnum 700gr in that video?

Would you consider multiple attempts at close range without being able to keep them all on a torso "accurate shots"? The sort that would put a round where it needs to go in a moving and angry target?

Do you suppose the time to set up a proper stance, etc. might be a touch different than a surprise encounter while fatigued, injured, knocked down, etc?

I think our view on what points where proven may vary on the video. Whatever extra oomph this has over a .44 mag or hot .45 Colt, preferably from a 6"+ barrel, isn't worth it for me for a survival situation sort of revolver. One I can shoot accurately and handle one handed if needed without getting perfect footing, my bodyweight behind it, etc.

Of course I wandered in to grizzly bear country with hard cast .40S&W, so I'm probably walking bear kibble anyway.

 

[BugI02]

In the very early 80’s we caved to the high capacity of sub caliber ammo. As a failure of anyone shooting better, we shot more.

I know Jeff Cooper is no longer cool with kids today, but:

“It has never been clear to me why increased magazine capacity in a defensive pistol is particularly choice. The bigger the magazine the bigger the gun, and the bigger the gun the harder it is to get hold of for people with small hands. And what, pray, does one need all those rounds for? How many lethal antagonists do you think you are going to be able to handle? Once when Bruce Nelson was asked by a suspect if the thirteen-round magazine in the P35 was not a big advantage, Bruce’s answer was, “Well, yes, if you plan to miss a lot.”